Last Comic Standing (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Last Comic Standing is an American reality television talent show that has aired from 2003 through 2010.

The goal of the program is to select a comedian from a group, who will receive a development contract with the NBC network, and a television special first to air on the cable-TV network Comedy Central and later on the cable network Bravo.

In March 2009 it was announced that the show had been canceled and would not be returning for a seventh season. However, on December 30, 2009 Entertainment Weekly reported that NBC was in talks to bring the show back to the air. On February 26, 2010, it was announced that Craig Robinson would become the new host of the series.

Format

In the early rounds of the competition, NBC talent scouts Ross Mark and Bob Read held open casting calls in various locations around the United States. At each casting call, Mark and Read identified comics to participate in callback auditions in front of live audiences. Mark and Read then selected a predetermined number of comics from each callback, who were invited to participate in a semifinal qualifying round.

The comics who advanced to the semifinal qualifying round were divided into two groups. In Season Four, 40 comics were divided into two groups of 20; these comics performed and competed against each other at the Alex Theater in Los Angeles. During the semifinal qualifying rounds, a panel of celebrity judges, and the show's producers, selected the comics who would move forward to the final qualifying round. This determined who among the comics would be "in the house." While this was usually a regular house, in season four, the comics were chosen to live aboard in Long Beach, California.

Once "in the house," the comics participated in some type of comedic challenge each television week. Past challenges included performing stand-up at a local laundromat, working as a tour guide in Los Angeles, participating in a roast at the Friars Club of Beverly Hills and performing comedy on a specific subject with little preparation time on a radio show. The winner of each challenge is usually rewarded with immunity from being eliminated from the competition for that week, while the remaining comics are vulnerable to elimination through a "head-to-head" standup challenge.

As the conclusion of each television week drew near, each comic selected one other comic whom they believed they could defeat in a head-to-head challenge. The comics were sent off individually to a secluded booth, and named the person selected using the phrase "I know I'm funnier than _____." The comic who received the most nominations participated in that evening's head-to-head competition, and selected their opponent from any of the comics who had challenged them.

The head-to-head competition occurred in front of a live studio audience. The comics performed for an equal amount of time, and the studio audience voted electronically for their preferred performer. The winning comic remained "in the house" for at least one more television week, and the losing comic was eliminated from the competition.

When only five comics remained, the format changed again. All remaining comics performed for a large theatre audience as before, but now the decision-making power shifted from the studio audience to the television audience. Viewers cast their votes for their favorite comic by phoning a specific number, by voting online at the network's website, or both. Unlike some other "audience-vote reality" programs, the producers imposed a maximum number of eligible votes per originating phone number and email address. The comic who received the lowest number of votes each week was eliminated from the competition, until there was one "Last Comic Standing".

The "in the house" concept was dropped for season 7, and each week consisted of all remaining comics performing in front of a theater audience and being voted on by the television viewers to determine who leaves and who remains. It was essentially identical to the "final five" format used previously.

Winners: Dat Phan, John Heffron, Alonzo Bodden, Josh Blue, Jon Reep, Iliza Shlesinger, and Felipe Esparza.

Seasons

Season 1: Summer 2003

Season one aired in the summer of 2003 and was hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner of the audience-participation final vote in season one was Dat Phan, with 35% of the vote. Other finalists included Ralphie May (28%), Rich Vos (18%), Cory Kahaney (12%), and Tess (7%). Contestants "in the house" who did not make the final five were Geoff Brown, Tere Joyce, Sean Kent, Dave Mordal, and Rob Cantrell.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Head-to-head					Public Elimination
	Ep 4	Ep 5	Ep 6	Ep 7	Ep 8	Ep 10	Ep 11
Dat Phan	IN	IN	SAFE	WIN	WIN	IN	LCS
Ralphie May	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Rich Vos	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Cory Kahaney	IN	WIN	IN	SAFE	IN	OUT
Tess	SAFE	SAFE	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Geoff Brown	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Dave Mordal	WIN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Rob Cantrell	IN	IN	OUT
Tere Joyce	IN	OUT
Sean Kent	OUT

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} SAFE means the comic won the immunity challenge

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic participated and won the head-to-head showdown

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic lost in the head-to-head showdown or by viewer voting and was eliminated

Season 2: Summer 2004

Season two aired in the summer of 2004, hosted by Jay Mohr. The winner was John Heffron. Alonzo Bodden was the first runner-up, while third place went to Gary Gulman. The other finalists were Ant, Tammy Pescatelli, Bonnie McFarlane, Jay London, Kathleen Madigan, Todd Glass, Chris Voth, and Corey Holcomb.

Buck Star, who became infamous for appearing at each and every LCS audition, first appeared in season two. After being repeatedly rejected by talent scouts Mark and Read, Mark finally acquiesced and allowed Buck to perform in the callback auditions in Tampa (the final audition site of the season). Buck failed to impress the live audience, however, and did not advance further in the competition.

After five head-to-head eliminations, a wildcard competition was set up among the five eliminated comics the top voter-getting returning to the competition. Jay London won this competition, but was ultimately eliminated again in the next vote.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Head-to-head					Wild Card	Public Elimination
	Ep 5	Ep 6	Ep 7	Ep 8	Ep 9	Ep 11	Ep 13	Ep 15
John Heffron	WIN	IN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	LCS
Alonzo Bodden	IN	IN	SAFE	IN	WIN	IN	IN	OUT
Gary Gulman	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Jay London	IN	IN	IN	OUT		WIN	OUT
Kathleen Madigan	IN	IN	IN	SAFE	IN	IN	OUT
Tammy Pescatelli	IN	WIN	IN	IN	SAFE	IN	OUT
Corey Holcomb	SAFE	IN	IN	IN	OUT	OUT
Ant	IN	SAFE	OUT			OUT
Todd Glass	IN	OUT				OUT
Bonnie McFarlane	OUT					OUT

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} SAFE means the comic won the immunity challenge

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic participated and won the head-to-head showdown

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic won the wildcard and returned to the show

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic lost in the head-to-head showdown or by viewer voting and was eliminated

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic competed for the wildcard and lost

Season 3: Fall 2004

While Last Comic Standing Season Two was airing, NBC agreed to produce a third season, which would air during the fall of 2004. Season three, dubbed the "Battle of the Best", consisted of a competition between the final ten comedians from seasons one and two. The grand prize awarded this season was a flat $250,000 (unlike previous seasons' prizes, which included a talent contract and a television special). Alonzo Bodden, the runner-up from Season 2, was the winner and Dave Mordal, the seventh place man from Season 1, was the runner-up. The third placemen were John Heffron, the Season 2 winner and Rich Vos, the third place man from Season 1 and Bonnie McFarlane's husband. Season 2 first-eliminated Bonnie McFarlane had chosen not to participate in this competition for unknown reasons. Resources say that she may've been taking care of her and Rich Vos's new baby (Rich Vos being married to her and him also being third place man in season one). She was replaced by a finalists judge competition of four comics who made to the Hawaii round. The winner of that competition was Jessica Kirson who was eliminated first from season 2. Celebrities appearing in the season were Jeffrey Ross, Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog, Louie Anderson and Carrot Top. Episodes would be shown as 1 hour and the finale was a half-hour long.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Ep 2	Ep 3	Ep 4	Ep 5	Ep 6	Ep 7	Finale
Alonzo Bodden	WIN		WIN			WIN	LCS
Dave Mordal	IN			IN	IN		OUT
John Heffron	WIN			WIN	WIN		OUT
Rich Vos	IN		IN			IN	OUT
Gary Gulman		WIN	WIN			OUT
Tess	IN		IN			OUT
Todd Glass	WIN			WIN		OUT
Geoff Brown		IN		IN		OUT
Jay London		WIN	WIN		OUT
Ralphie May	IN		IN		OUT
Kathleen Madigan		WIN		WIN	OUT
Dat Phan		IN		IN	OUT
Ant		WIN		OUT
Sean Kent		IN		OUT
Tammy Pescatelli	WIN		OUT
Rob Cantrell		IN	OUT
Corey Holcomb		OUT
Tere Joyce		OUT
Jessica Kirson	OUT
Cory Kahaney	OUT

{{colorbox}} Season 1 comic

{{colorbox}} Season 2 comic

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic was the runner-up

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic's team won the $50,000 viewer vote and the comic moved on in the competition

{{colorbox}} IN means the comic's team lost the $50,000 viewer vote and the comic moved on in the competition

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic's team won the $50,000 viewer vote, but the comic was eliminated

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic's team lost the $50,000 viewer vote and the comic was eliminated.

Cancellation

Due to lackluster ratings in the third season (falling as low as 74th in the prime-time Nielsen ratings), NBC pulled the plug before the last episode aired; it aired on Comedy Central instead. It has been speculated that the low ratings were due to overexposure, since season three began airing almost immediately after season two had concluded. Some believe that since this was a "Tournament of Champions' season with the finalists from the previous two seasons competing, these relatively undistinguished comics, with their relatively thin catalogs of material had little new and funny to offer the audience.

Season 4: Summer 2006

On May 30, 2006, the show returned to NBC with a two-hour special and a new host, Anthony Clark.

Nielsen ratings from Season 4 averaged a 4.4 share (4,848,800 households).

Josh Blue, a St. Paul, Minnesota, native who has cerebral palsy, was the Last Comic Standing on the August 9, 2006, conclusion of the contest. Ty Barnett was the runner-up, while third place went to Chris Porter. Other finalists were (in order of placement) Michele Balan, Roz, Kristin Key, Rebecca Corry, Gabriel Iglesias, Joey Gay, Bil Dwyer, April Macie, and Stella Stolper. Additionally, Theo Von won the separate online contest to be the Last Comic Downloaded. Iglesias was disqualified for multiple violations of his contract including using a BlackBerry and became the first in the history of the show to be thrown out of the competition.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Head-to-head			Public elimination
	Ep 5	Ep 6	Ep 7	Ep 8	Ep 9	Ep 10	Ep 11
Josh Blue	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	LCS
Ty Barnett	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Chris Porter	SAFE	WIN	IN	IN	LOW	OUT
Michele Balan	WIN	WIN	IN	LOW	OUT
Roz	SAFE	IN	IN	OUT
Rebecca Corry	IN	SAFE	OUT
Kristin Key	IN	IN	OUT
Gabriel Iglesias	IN	IN	DQ
Joey Gay	IN	OUT
Bil Dwyer	IN	OUT
April Macie	OUT
Stella Stolper	OUT

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} SAFE means the comic won the immunity challenge

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic participated and won the head-to-head showdown

{{colorbox}} LOW means the comic was shown as receiving the second-lowest viewer vote total

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic lost in the head-to-head showdown or by viewer voting and was eliminated

{{colorbox}} DQ means the comic was disqualified for breaking the show's rules

Season 5: Summer 2007

Last Comic Standing returned for a fifth season in the summer of 2007. Comedian Bill Bellamy hosted the show. The winner got $250,000 along with an NBC Universal contract and a Bravo special. Unlike previous versions, this season featured comics from around the world competing alongside Americans. Auditions were held in London, Montreal, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis, San Antonio and Tempe. The fifth season began June 13. This series premiered on British music channel TMF on July 4, 2007.

The final ten comics were Lavell Crawford, Jon Reep, Gerry Dee, Amy Schumer, Ralph Harris, Doug Benson, Matt Kirshen, Debra DiGiovanni, Dante, and Gina Yashere.

The season finale aired on September 19, 2007 in which Jon Reep was revealed as the winner. Lavell Crawford was the season 5 runner-up.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Head-to-head			Public elimination
	Ep 7	Ep 8	Ep 9	Ep 10	Ep 11	Ep 12	Ep 13
Jon Reep	IN	SAFE	IN	IN	IN	IN	LCS
Lavell Crawford	SAFE	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Gerry Dee	IN	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Amy Schumer	IN	IN	SAFE	IN	OUT
Ralph Harris	WIN	IN	WIN	OUT
Doug Benson	IN	IN	OUT
Matt Kirshen	IN	WIN	OUT
Debra DiGiovanni	IN	OUT
Dante	OUT
Gina Yashere	OUT

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} SAFE means the comic won the immunity challenge

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic participated and won the head-to-head showdown

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic lost the head-to-head showdown or by viewer voting and was eliminated

Season 6: Summer 2008

Bill Bellamy once again hosted. British television host Fearne Cotton joined him as co-host.

Season 6 semi-final rounds were held and filmed in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel & Casino. The season finale also aired from Las Vegas. The season premiered on May 22, 2008, and was being shown in Britain on Paramount Comedy.

The season finale aired on August 7, 2008 during which Iliza Shlesinger was revealed as the winner, the first and only female to win the title. Marcus was the season 6 runner-up.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Head-to-head		Public Elimination
	Ep 8	Ep 9	Ep 10	Ep 11	Ep 12
Iliza Shlesinger	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	LCS
Marcus	IN	IN	SAFE	IN	OUT
Jeff Dye	IN	SAFE	IN	IN	OUT
Jim Tavare	SAFE	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Louis Ramey	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Sean Cullen	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Ron G.	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Adam Hunter	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Papa CJ	IN	OUT
Paul Foot	IN	OUT
Esther Ku	OUT
God's Pottery	OUT

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} SAFE means the comic won the immunity challenge

{{colorbox}} WIN means the comic participated and won the head-to-head showdown

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic lost the head-to-head showdown or by viewer voting and was eliminated

Season 7: Summer 2010

A casting call appeared on the Casting Page on NBC.com, announcing auditions in Los Angeles and New York. The seventh season premiered on June 7, 2010, hosted by Craig Robinson. The show was again reworked following a format similar to the one used for Season 3, without a House or Challenges, with voting beginning right after the Semi-Finals. The judges for season 7 were Greg Giraldo, Natasha Leggero, and Andy Kindler. Comedians that have appeared this season include James Adomian, Jim David, Christina Pazsitzky, Kirk Fox, Jimmy Dore, Michael J. Herbert, Myq Kaplan, Tiffany Haddish, Cathy Ladman, Jamie Lee, Kurt Metzger, Ryan Hamilton, Brian McKim, Adrienne Iapalucci, Jerry Rocha, Paula Bel, Rachel Feinstein, Jeff Ragsdale, Jesse Joyce, Kyle Grooms, Jonathan Thymius, Felipe Esparza, Shane Mauss, Jason Weems, Amanda Melson, Chip Pope, Claudia Cogan, Nikki Glaser, Taylor Williamson, Alycia Cooper and David Feldman. The winner was Felipe Esparza.

Elimination Chart

Comics	Public Elimination
	Ep 6	Ep 7	Ep 8	Ep 9	Ep 10
Felipe Esparza	IN	IN	IN	IN	LCS
Tommy Johnagin	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Roy Wood, Jr.	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Mike DeStefano	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Myq Kaplan	IN	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Jonathan Thymius	IN	IN	IN	OUT
Rachel Feinstein	IN	IN	OUT
Maronzio Vance	IN	OUT
Laurie Kilmartin	IN	OUT
James Adomian	IN	OUT

{{colorbox}} LCS means the comic was the last comic standing

{{colorbox}} OUT means the comic was eliminated based on viewer votes

Controversy

During season two, a panel of four celebrity judges was used to shrink the field of 40 semifinalists to ten finalists. The celebrity judges rated each of the semifinalists as they performed, and cast votes for the 10 top comedians. When the ten finalists were announced they did not seem to correspond with the judges' votes, which the judges noticed. Two celebrity judges, comedians Drew Carey and Brett Butler, left the judges' table visibly angry after the finalists were announced.

The two were shown backstage arguing with producers. Carey and Butler did not understand how the finalists who were announced could be correct, given the way the judges had voted. It was revealed that a panel of four producers were also casting votes in the process, assuring that unless all four celebrity judges cast exactly the same ten votes, their voting power could be usurped by the four unanimously agreeing producers. If for some reason all four celebrity judges did cast exactly the same votes, the worst the producers would be faced with was a tie.

Upon news of this information, Carey became angry that the producers made it seem he had a deciding vote in the outcome of the show, calling the situation "crooked and dishonest." It was also revealed that some of the finalists who advanced were clients or employees of the producers or directors of the show.

Allegedly, some of the competitors in opening rounds were plants hired by the producers to give bad performances in order liven up the auditions on television. For example, Buck Star, a lackluster comedian who followed talent executives Bob Read and Ross Mark to auditions across the country, is rumored to have been a production assistant for NBC. All of his brief auditions were filmed and survived the editing, strengthening the argument that he was a plant.

Auditions

Mark Breslin, owner of Yuk Yuk's comedy clubs which hosted the Toronto audition for season 6, described the audition process actually employed during those auditions. He explained that while anyone who wanted to could wait in line to audition, most would be berated and embarrassed by the panel of judges and then dismissed after only one joke.

Top local agents are usually given a number of specific call times for their clients. The first round of auditions were for a producer early in the morning, and those that were chosen came back for the celebrity judges in the afternoon. Breslin also confirmed that, while only two were shown advancing in the final broadcast, four comics had been initially chosen to advance to the finals. Brian Lazanik, one of the two finalists who did not end up at the Vegas finals, has said that he was also chosen as a finalist in season 5's Toronto auditions, but was similarly cut. Producers for the show called his agent, urging him to try out again for season 6.

Appearances by comics

• Angry Bob ("Sirius Radio" and "Opie and Anthony")
• Arj Barker (Marijuana Logues, Comedy Central Presents, Flight of the Conchords)
• Bil Dwyer (Battlebots, I've Got a Secret and Comedy Central Presents)
• Chad Shapiro (MTV's "Yo Momma", LOGO's "Sketch Show")
• Claire Hooper (Good News Week)
• Dan Cummins (Comedy Central Presents)
• Dan Levy (The Reality Show and Your Face or Mine?)
• Dave Mordal (Wreckreation Nation with Dave Mordal)
• Doug Benson (Marijuana Logues, Best Week Ever, Comedy Central Presents, Super High Me)
• Fiona O'Loughlin
• Gabriel Iglesias (All That and Comedy Central Presents)
• Gary Gulman (Comedy Central Presents and Tourgasm)
• Gerry Dee (Trailer Park Boys: The Movie)
• Gina Yashere
• Harland Williams (RocketMan, Half Baked, Premium Blend, Comedy Central Presents)
• Iliza Shlesinger on The Soup
• James Cunningham (Comedy Central Presents)
• Jim Norton (Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Opie and Anthony, Lucky Louie and Tourgasm)
• Jimmy Pardo
• Joe DeVito (Comedy Central's "Live at Gotham, Fox News Channel's "The Red Eye")
• Joel McHale (The Soup, Community)
• John Heffron (season two's winner)
• Jon Reep (Premium Blend, Comedy Central Presents, Bandits vs. Smokies, Dodge Ram Hemi commercials, Rodney)
• Josh Blue (Mind of Mencia, Comedy Central Presents)
• Josh Thomas (Talkin' 'bout your Generation, GNW)
• Kathleen Madigan (Comedy Central Presents)
• Larry Reeb (Bob & Tom Show)
• Lavell Crawford (Comedy Central Presents)
• Marc Price (Family Ties)
• Nikki Payne (Muchmusic's Video On Trial, CTV's Comedy INC, The Comedy Network's Buzz)
• Pablo Francisco (Comedy Central Presents, MadTV)
• Ralph Harris (On Our Own, Bob & Tom Show)
• Ralphie May (Girth of a nation, Prime Cut, Austintatious.)
• Rich Vos (Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Comedy Central Presents, Opie and Anthony)
• Rob Little (The Best Damn Sports Show Period, Last Call with Carson Daly, Strictly Sex with Dr. Drew, and won $25,000 on CBS's Fire Me...Please)
• Seán Cullen (CBC's The Seán Cullen Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Comedy Central Presents, Ellen's Really Big Show)
• Stephen Kramer Glickman (Big Time Rush)
• Thea Vidale (Thea)
• Theo Von (Road Rules)
• Ryan Belleville (Comedy Central Presents)
• Ryan Hamilton (Comedy Central Live at Gotham)
• Taylor Williamson
• Todd Glass (Comedy Central Presents, Tosh.0)
• Tom Cotter (Comedy Central Presents)

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